Rainbow Veins
by MichikoMichiyo29
Summary: Itachi has been Sakura's shoulder to cry on since she was three years old. When he leaves for college and disappears from everyone's lives, she thinks he's forgotten about her. Two years later the summer before she goes to college with Sasuke and Naruto, Itachi shows up and he wants his place in her heart back. All she has to say is; bring it on. ItaSaku SasuNaru


**_Authors' Note: _**_So, this is just a little thing I wanted to try out, and I'm just posting the prologue first, because I want to see the response on this before I add anymore. So, tell me if you like it, if you hate it and why...If I get some good reviews, I will definitely be posting more. Oh, and for those of you waiting on my other stories, Ready Or Not and Breath of Life will be updated shortly._

_Just as a warning, this sill have __**YAOI **__in it. As in __**SLASH **__and __**BOYxBOY. **__For those of you who don't like it, you can exit stage left, bitches._

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Prologue

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Six year old ebony-haired, dark eyed, pale-skinned Itachi Uchiha sat at the base of the large cherry blossom tree on the grounds of Uchiha Manor, his family home, and he combed through his book, a serious look on his slightly rounded face.

Itachi had been sitting quietly and reading for the past hour or so, and he might've stayed there for hours more, had he not heard that single cry of distress.

Recognizing the call, he got up and, with a speed much greater than any other six year old, the tall boy made his way to the other side of the grounds where the sprawling garden, so carefully tended to by his mother, was and he followed the paved path straight to his target.

Brushing aside the exotic leaves and colorful plants, Itachi stepped into a clearing of sorts, with a big pond of sorts in the centre, surrounded by trimmed grass and blooming roses.

Standing at the edge of the water were two small boys, one of which was Itachi's four year old brother, Sasuke, who had short bluish-black hair that spiked up in the back, pale skin and wide obsidian eyes that tinged red with his panic.

"Aniki, Aniki!" cried Sasuke, his big eyes watering, and his chubby cheeks blooming with a bright red of distress, "Help, help!"

"Sakura-chan fell innna the waters!" the other boy, a tanned blonde with wide blue eyes that went by the name of Naruto Uzumaki, hiccupped his addition.

Itachi's dark eyes swept towards the pool where a small body was indeed flailing in the dark water. Without a second thought, Itachi kicked off his shoes and waded into the water that went right up to his neck, thin arms already reaching for the rapidly sinking figure.

Grabbing a piece of the thing's clothing, Itachi dragged it up to the surface and into his arms, and he waded back to the shore were Naruto and Sasuke were waiting with baited breath.

"Nii-san!" cried Sasuke, running forward, "Is she okay?"

Naruto ran forward too, "Itachi-nii-san is Sakura-chan okay?"

Brushing both small children off, Itachi gently laid the shaking bundle down on the grass, and he rolled it over, revealing a tiny, pale girl with a heart shaped face, wide green eyes and short, sopping wet light pink hair plastered to her head.

Shivering, Sakura Haruno began coughing up most of the pond water that had found its way into her lungs, and she could only look up at the boy who had saved her, and blink.

"…T-Tachi?" the nickname Itachi allowed only her to use passed through her almost-blue lips like a whisper in howling wind.

Reaching out a hand, Itachi laid it on the four-year old's slightly large forehead, brushing away the sticky strands. Turning back towards the watching duo, Itachi spoke quietly,

"Go get Mother."

Nodding, both boys raced off, screaming for the Uchiha matriarch as if the house was burning down. Satisfied, Itachi turned back towards Sakura and helped her sit up, and letting the younger child lean on him for support.

"Sakura," when her name was called, the pink haired child looked up with a guilty look in her eyes, now darkening to emerald.

"You three aren't allowed in the rose garden," admonished Itachi, "And you shouldn't have been playing in the pool."

Sakura sniffled, her green eyes watering, "I-I'm sorry Ichi," the girl used another pet name, and Itachi softened visibly.

"It's okay. But you could've drowned, and then you would have died." Itachi did not verbalize just how devastating that would've been for him, let alone Sasuke and Naruto, but the meaning was clear.

Sniffling some more, Sakura cuddled up to Itachi's side and snuffled apologetically,

"I'm sorry, 'Tachi…Really. I won't do it again, I promise!"

Before Itachi could answer, Sasuke and Naruto appeared with Itachi's mother, Mikoto Uchiha close behind. "Oh my lord, Sakura! Oh God, Itachi!"

The pale woman with her long, dark hair, who Sasuke resembled so much, dropped to her knees beside the pair and drew Sakura into her arms, gently checking for injuries.

"Hmm…" with pursed lips, Mikoto crinkled her wide, dark eyes at the shivering girl and said gently, "Well, come on inside Sakura, and we'll call your Mom and—,"

"No!" cried Sakura, squirming in Mikoto's arms, "No, no please, don't call my Mom! I'll be in super big trouble, and she might not wanna lets me play here with Sasuke and Tachi anymores!"

Mikoto seemed torn between amusement and worry, "But honey, you're Mom is a doctor, and the family's personal practitioner, so I'm going to have to call her no matter what…"

Sakura pouted up at the beautiful woman, "But Auntie Mikoto, what if Mommy doesn't lets me play here anymores? I don't wanna leave my Tachi and Sasuke! Sasuke's my Best Friend, and so is Naruto, but Mommy would let me see him cuz we live together most of the time—but Tachi is my Ichi, and what if I lose him while I'm gone?!"

"Yeah, Auntie 'Koto, whaddif we can't come back?!" howled Naruto, greatly distressed. And that of course upset Sasuke, who began screaming that no one could take his friends away unless he didn't want them anymore.

Mikoto seemed to be choking on her laughter at this point, and the faint blush on Itachi's normally stoic face did it; she burst out into peals of laughter than made all three children stop talking to glare cutely at her.

"Auntie Mikoto!" yelled Sakura, scrunching up her face, "This is serious!"

"Yeah Mom!" chimed in Sasuke, "You can't laugh!"

"And what if we really can't ever come back, hm?" huffed Naruto, "You'd feel super-extra bad for laughing then!"

Clearing her throat and trying to erase all traces of laughter from her face, Mikoto nodded somberly, "I think I would, Naruto. But come; let's all go inside. Itachi, hurry along! I want you and Sakura inside before you two catch a cold!"

Mikoto towed all four of them inside and she called Sakura's Mom and got the children cleaned up in record timing. All four were shepherded into a cozy room with a large fireplace and cushy, thick wall to wall rug; it was the perfect place to warm up.

Mikoto had seated herself in a big armchair beside the fire, and the children were curled up around her feet, and she was reading to them out of a large book of fairy tales, something that even Itachi, the clan prodigy, enjoyed.

The study door flew open, and a beautiful woman with clear skin, syrupy, whiskey gold eyes and long honey blonde hair pulled down into two loose pigtails, wearing at least three inch heels strode in followed by a younger girl, who had layered black hair, and big brown eyes.

Tsunade Senju was an internationally renowned Doctor who was considered one of the best in the medical field. Tsunade had adopted Sakura when she was one, and her parents died in a car crash. Both had been doctors at the hospital the blonde ran, Konoha General, and the pink-haired baby had been left all alone, with no living relatives to speak of.

"Oh, God, Sakura," the blonde woman bent and scooped the tiny girl into her arms and she held her for all she was worth. "Oh sweetie, are you okay? Mikoto said you fell in a pond!"

"'M fine, Mommy," replied Sakura, still drowsy from the warmth of the fire.

The dark haired girl stood on tiptoes to hug Sakura from Tsunade's arms, "You okay Sakura?"

The pink haired girl nodded, "Mmhm…I'm fine Shizune-nee-chan."

Eleven year old Shizune Kato had been the niece of Tsunade's deceased lover, Dan Kato, and she was also an orphan. Tsunade had taken her in when she was just a kid, only six, and Shizune had been there ever since.

When Sakura squirmed to be let down, Mikoto closed the book and stood, smiling at the blonde woman before hugging her once her arms were free,

"Hello Tsunade. I made sure Sakura was injury free before she got cleaned up, and I learned from the best of course!"

"Thank you," replied Tsunade Senju gratefully, and her eyes swept over the other children, "Itachi saved her you said?"

Mikoto nodded and beamed at her son, who was looking back stoically.

"Yes, and—oh it was quite a feat. And they were so cute!"

Tsunade let out a laugh at her dark haired friend's antics, and she nodded her thanks at Itachi, who acknowledged her with a blink.

"You guys weren't supposed to be near the roses at all," said the dark haired girl with a disapproving frown when Mikoto had finished recounting the tale.

"Shizune is right," said Tsunade, glaring at Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura who had all clumped together, "The roses are off limits, so why were you playing there?"

Naruto spoke first,

"It was my fault Granny Tsunade! We were just so bored, and you guys said we couldn't play near the roses, but Sasuke said that he'd seen a pretty lizard there once, and I wanted to catch it, but then Sakura wanted to see the roses, so we did, but then she fell in—,"

Sakura butted in with tearful eyes, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! And I don't wanna leave and never comes back! I have my Mikoto here and she makes us cookies and she lets me helps and then there's Sasuke and he's my Best Friend, and there's Mr. FuFu, and he's always so grumpy, but I like him, and then there's my Tachi! I don't wanna leave my Tachi Mommy, I don't wanna!—"

And Sasuke cut her off, with a loud outburst,

"You can't take my friends away! They're mine! And I'll kill whoever does!"

Standing there holding both Naruto and Sakura's hands and glaring for all he was worth, Sasuke looked ready to do just that.

There was a moment of quiet as everyone processed what had just been said, and Tsunade sank to her knees before the trio.

"Relax," she said to Sakura, who had tensed to the point where her muscles must've locked. "I won't bite."

Sakura swallowed and cracked a smile. "Alright…"

"I'm not mad at you three." Tsunade slid a hand over her exhausted features, "I'm not!" she added, seeing Naruto's disbelieving face.

"I mean, I can't fault you three for being curious, and after the 'Park Incident', I've come to expect stuff like this from you guys. And besides," she added, winking at Naruto, "Jiraiya, Orochimaru and I would've done the same thing."

Jiraiya Myoboku and Orochimaru Mokutan had been students with Tsunade under the Third Hokage, (the Mayor of Konohagakure, their village, city, town…etc.) Hiruzen Sarutobi, and all three had astounding talents both in and out of the political field.

Both Tsunade and Orochimaru had drifted towards the medical field, what with Tsunade being the Head M.D of Konoha, and Orochimaru had gone on to become some sort of scientist that did experiments with DNA and other stuff.

Jiraiya though had decided that his talents lie more in the literary department, and he began writing a series of porn novels, Icha Icha Paradise, that had become successful to a very surprising degree.

Jiraiya was also Naruto's Godfather, and when his parent's died, Naruto's guardianship was passed onto him, though Naruto spent almost all of his time with his Godmother, Tsunade, while Jiraiya travelled across the world on book tours and in search of inspiration.

"And Sasuke," the dark haired boy's head snapped up, every muscle taunt, "I'm not taking them away, so don't worry. It's pretty clear by now that you three are a trio for life."

This earned a big cheer, and the trio raced around shouting and screaming happily.

And it was true, because from the day Naruto and Sakura had met Sasuke Uchiha in daycare when they were three years old; they'd known that they would be friends for life.

A tall man with lightly tanned skin, dark brown, almost black hair, and dark, dark eyes stepped out of the shadows and spoke dryly,

"Is there anywhere else you can take this…gathering?"

"FUFU!" an inhuman screech erupted from the tiny pink haired girl, and she leapt towards the imposing figure, and Fugaku Uchiha, the Esteemed Head of the Uchiha Clan, was forced to try and dodge the little ball of chaos that tried to tackle him.

Diving towards the left, Fugaku feinted right and he almost managed to make it to the door, but Sakura had grasped a piece of his pants, and she had quickly attached herself to his leg like a leech.

"Hello Mr. FuFu! You missed everything!" Sakura began chattering on about her day, and she paid no mind to the struggling adult above her.

"Tsunade," barked Fugaku in a strained voice, "Remove your spawn at once,"

Raising her plucked eyebrows, Tsunade smirked, "No I don't think I will, FuFu."

In the end, it was—surprisingly—Itachi, who saved his father.

Growing tired of seeing Sakura attach herself to anyone but him—_even if it is my father,_ thought Itachi grimly—Itachi stood and made his way over to where Sakura had clutched onto Fugaku's leg, and he bent to whisper in her ear from behind,

"Sakura, I am going to the library, and I thought you might like to come."

Sakura paused in her chattering, and her head twisted around so that she could look Itachi in the eyes,

"…Which one?"

"It's the one on the second floor, with all the picture books in it." Replied Itachi blithely.

Sakura's eyes lit up, and she scrambled off of Fugaku's leg and back towards Itachi who was looking at the awestruck people with something akin to smugness on his six year old face.

Reaching out, the four year old grasped Itachi's hand and she tugged him towards the door, "Can we go now?"

Nodding, Itachi allowed himself to be tugged out, but not before sending another gloating look towards Naruto and Sasuke, both of whom were glaring at him.

When the door swung shut behind the duo, Mikoto was the first to speak,

"Well…that was certainly something!"

"I'll say," Tsunade added, still staring at the door with a slight frown.

"…My son the Sakura Whisperer!" exclaimed Mikoto, making everyone laugh.

"Mikoto," said Tsunade slowly, "You don't think…"

She was cut off by Naruto and Sasuke, who had both decided that they were sick of Itachi stealing Sakura from them,

"Let's go!" yelled Naruto racing towards the door with Sasuke hot on his heels. Both were stopped by Shizune who stood in front of the door and said, in all her eleven year old glory,

"Where're you guys going?"

Huffing, both boys slid to a stop in front of the bossy dark haired female, and they raced through an explanation,

"We're sick of Itachi always stealing our Sakura," began Sasuke self-importantly.

"So we're gonna go get her back!" finished Naruto exuberantly. "Sakura-chan is our friend, and he can't have her!"

And without as much as a 'by your leave', both children shoved the skinny pre-teen out of their way, and they took off down the hall, yelling for Sakura and Itachi.

"…Are they really fighting over Sakura?" asked Shizune skeptically.

"Boys," said Mikoto fondly.

"They're crazy," added Shizune, shaking her head.

"No!" moaned Tsunade, "I shouldn't have to deal with this yet! I had another ten years!"

Fugaku simply smirked and said, "They are Uchiha. And they always get what they want."

"So do Uzumaki for that matter," grumbled Tsunade.

Fugaku offered both Tsunade and Mikoto a drink, though neither accepted. Shizune had a cherry coke from behind the personal bar.

The door swung open again, and to everyone's surprise, it was Sakura, who was dragging a sedate Itachi by the hand once more. Dropping Itachi's hand and running up to her mother, Sakura held out her arms to be picked up, which Tsunade did gladly.

"Mommy, Mommy, guess what?" giggled Sakura.

"What, sweetie?" Tsunade smiled.

"I asked Itachi if I could live with him here, and he said I could!" cried Sakura ecstatically.

Tsunade paled drastically, and her hold on Sakura tightened to the point where it was almost strangulation, though Sakura herself didn't notice.

"But he said I have to marry him first, though," added Sakura with a slight frown.

Choking, Tsunade bent and place Sakura on the carpet before taking a couple steps backwards.

Marry...thought Tsunade, MARRY?! MARRY?!

"Marry him…?" Tsunade asked weakly.

Sakura nodded and ran up to Itachi, who reached out and placed a hand on her head, almost possessively.

"Then I can stay forever and read every book in all the liberries here!" chirped Sakura.

Tsunade's vision wavered, and her eyes landed on a faintly smirking Itachi, who drew Sakura closer by the top of her head, so that she was pressed against the front of his chest, as if he was saying, 'This one is mine. Don't touch.'

Then, Naruto and Sasuke burst in and saw Sakura in Itachi's hold, and they went complete apeshit, screaming and shouting until Tsunade could feel the migraine building up behind her temples, pounding like a heartbeat.

Instead of trying to separate the four like Mikoto and Shizune, Tsunade chose to drift over towards Fugaku who was nursing a tumbler of whiskey and watching the proceedings with a sharp eye.

"That offer for a drink still stand?"

Smirking, Fugaku poured her a shot, which she downed without as much as a blink. When her glass was full again, Tsunade nursed that one slowly,

"He wants to marry her," She blurted out. But Fugaku only smirked and clinked glasses with the distraught blonde,

"He's an Uchiha," began Fugaku haughtily.

"And they always get what they want." Tsunade finished with dread pooling in her gut.

"Exactly." Fugaku chuckled darkly when Tsunade groaned.

"Now how about another shot?"

Turning away from the complete and utter chaos behind her, Tsunade gave a wan smile and replied,

"Make it a double, FuFu." I'm gonna need it.

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_**See? So this is just gonna be funny and cute. This was just the beginning, and the next chapter will be when everyone's all grown up! Tell me if you liked it, and I'll see how quickly I can get the next chapter up. Tomorrow's my Grandma's birthday, and my nephews' is next Wednesday. I've got a busy week ahead, but I won't forget you guys!**_


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